WE find it very sad that a house steeped in history from the 1860s  that  we were proud to live in and lovingly restored has been allowed to be neglected and reduced to a heap of rubble.

We deliberately gave work to local craftsmen who carried out a loft conversion, adding wooden panels with a Parthenon charioteers inset plaque from the British Museum to  one bedroom.

Showers, loos and bathrooms abounded, a total of four,  tiled  by a friend who worked for a top-of-the-market bathroom firm who also did a gorgeous quarry tile floor in the kitchen which had a gas range.

The middle floor was completely panelled with a restored Victorian and slate fireplace installed. The original ceiling with the meat hooks in could still be viewed and there was a well outside the back door.

The original waxed  deeds showing the first land sale, maps and all the history had been framed and we left them with the property. The exterior of the  house had been painted the palest of pinks and in the glorious Forest of Dean sunsets positively glowed, the highest on the skyline next to the Baptist chapel.

I had hoped the four dogs buried in what was the rose garden had their final resting place.

We remember the protests about flats being built and Jimmy Young stepping in as his dear departed mother was buried in the Baptist chapel grounds.

Allowing the house to decline was a clever move on someone's part.

– A Previous Occupier, Ross.